Building a Movement
Business for a Better Portland continued to grow in size, force, and voice in 2019, ending the year as a firmly established leader for values-driven change and widespread economic prosperity.
How do we do it?
Step 1: Listen
We listen to our members, our partners, the less-advantaged members of our communities. We listen to learn, to find pain points and identify opportunities to collaborate and act.
Step 2: Collaborate
We find like-minded partners to join hands with so we can take action and make progress on the issues that matter most to our members and our community.
Step 3: Amplify
We create opportunities for our members (we like to call it a civic engagement on-ramp) so their voices are heard when it matters most.
Step 4: Strengthen
We show up at the table with a solution mindset and stay until the work is done. We make connections — both among our members and with our partners — and make sure they have a chance to grow.
Step 5: Begin again
Along the way, we often fall short and we always learn ways to be better. Fortunately, we’re not a flash in the pan. BBPDX is at this work for good.
In 2019, we endeavored to help Portland — and all of Oregon — thrive as we made progress in our four areas of focus:
Community Building
Business thrives when we help each other succeed.
As membership surpassed 400 members, BBPDX sprinted to keep up, growing our staff, doubling the size of our Board of Directors and strengthening the Associate Board to give our growing organization a stronger foundation. We also created opportunities for our amazing members to connect with each other through a series of B2B events over the course of the year, along with supporting two multicultural chamber mixers bringing together diverse business owners from around the region.
“When I founded Ride Report, I was very concerned that it be a force for good in the community. It’s not enough just to have a good mission, particularly for tech companies and particularly at a time of so much change. My involvement with BBPDX was born of this desire to see my business work to better understand and support the needs of all Portlanders.”
Economic Opportunity
Business thrives when people from all backgrounds have economic opportunity.
BBPDX spent 2019 building, supporting, and mobilizing a coalition of business owners and organizations to advocate for education investments and to create better access to capital for underrepresented communities. It’s a theme that grew over the course of the year, culminating with an opportunity to propose draft legislation for the Oregon Legislature to consider during the February 2020 short session.
“As business leaders, it’s time to re-evaluate our relationship with the broader community and recognize that our long-term financial success is intimately tied to the success of our employees, customers, neighbors, and environment. It’s not enough to organize a volunteer event, contribute to individual entrepreneurs, or to make a tax-deductible charitable donation. Today, those are great places to start, but we have to go further and actively engage in the issues that our employees and communities face in their everyday lives.”
Housing and homelessness
Business thrives when everyone has housing options.
BBPDX continued to focus on housing advocacy in 2019 providing opportunities for members to dig in as volunteers, speak up on policy, and learn about emerging issues. In addition, BBPDX convened a workgroup on housing policy made up of progressive leaders in the real estate industry who will provide an important business voice on future policy discussions. We also continued our work to provide comfort to those who are experiencing homelessness while we focus the bulk of our work on addressing long term solutions to this complex challenge that must be addressed at a systems level.
“Our region is continuing to grow. If we don’t create policies favorable to the creation of more affordable housing at broad levels of income, then we create disproportionate pressure for the most vulnerable members of society. We can learn from our neighbors to the south how not to approach these policies, and we still have some time to take a considered approach, but time is running out.”
Transportation
Business thrives when transportation is safe, equitable, and efficient.
Our city and our businesses can’t thrive in gridlock. We believe that public transit investment will lead to business success through less congestion, better freight mobility, and progress on climate, equity, and safety goals. Specifically, BBPDX is advocating for transit that is frequent, affordable and reliable; efficient freight routes; SAFETY (2019 was the deadliest year on Portland streets since 1997); transportation planning that supports equitable housing; and a speedy transition to electric vehicle fleets.
“I know how critical it is to have the voice of the business community integrated into regional conversations about transportation because that has an impact on housing prices and the ability for all businesses and its workers to get to and from work as quickly, safely, and as cost effectively as possible while minimizing the climate impact on the next generation.”
Your support in 2020 will make us a stronger voice for the community. Business thrives when Portland — and our entire region — thrives.
Join us.